


what we had

by captainhermioneswan



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 12,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27014722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainhermioneswan/pseuds/captainhermioneswan
Relationships: Ricky Bowen (HSMTMTS)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

avalon hall was kind of popular, her boyfriend, ej caswell,was one of the most popular boys in school, which meant she was popular by association. the two teens started dating the summer before when avalon was going into sophomore year and ej into junior year. they were east high's power couple.

at east high there are power couples for each grade. serena and kendall for seniors, avalon and ej counted for junior, ricky and nini for sophomore, then finally brendon and becky for freshmen. the 8 knew their social status and half of them acted upon it. serena, avalon, ricky, and nini were the half that remained calm, cool, and collected. they didn't care about their status. the other half let popularity give to their heads, especially ej. he let his ego get ahead of him, but avalon saw past that and liked him for who she knew he was inside.


	2. two

avalon walked into starbucks and saw ashlyn waving her over. the blonde sat down across from her boyfriend's cousin and said her hellos. the two girls started talking about ashlyn's song writing and avalon's dancing before the conversation drifted to avalon and ej's relationship. "how're you and ej?"

"good." the blonde girl vaguely answered.

ashlyn stared at her, "just good?"

"we're great, in fact, we have a date tonight." avalon leaned back in her chair.

ashlyn kept interrogating her friend just for the fun of it. "where are you going?"

"his house," avalon said. she knew ashlyn would get the wrong idea as soon as her mouth opened. "we're eating pizza, watching a movie, and building a fort like 3rd graders. nothing is going to happen."

and that was the end of that conversation. they talked a bit more before avalon had to get to practice. she walked out the door right as her best friend, trevor, pulled up to the curb to pick her up.

"get in loser, we're going to practice," he yelled rolling down the window.

"unlock the door dumbass," she said as he rolled his eyes, unlocking the door.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"back front, side front, close side, walk, walk, walk, cha-cha-cha, let's take five," avalon said, wiping sweat from her forehead  
"back front, side front, close side, walk, walk, walk, cha-cha-cha, let's take five," avalon said, wiping sweat from her forehead.

avalon and trevor were practicing new moves and coming up with random dances for fun. they didn't have competitions in the summer and weren't required to practice but did so anyway because they were so passionate about dance. they were practicing a cha-cha since they were both a bit rusty on the subject.

the two dancers took sips from their water bottles when avalon's phone rung. she closed her water bottle and answered her phone.

**"hey avy!"**

"hey ej." she smiled.

**"what time do you want to come over?"**

"whenever. i have to go home and change first."

**"okay, come over at 6 then, babe."**

"okay, see you then baby."

she hung up. they practiced for around a half an hour more before trevor drove his best friend home. she opened the door to her house and went up to her room. she picked out normal sweats and a tee to wear at ej's house. she packed her bag and walked downstairs to see her mom in the kitchen making dinner for one.

avalon heard the oven ding and watched her mom walk over to the oven and take out the food.  
"whatcha making?" the young blonde asked leaning against the counter.

"pizza breadsticks," her mom answered setting her dinner on the cooling rack.

"save me some for tomorrow." avalon walked around to smell her mom's cooking.

"i will. when's ej coming baby girl?" her mother asked walking around the counter, taking her oven mitts off, and hugging her daughter.

"soon," avalon told her mother, but she wasn't done talking. "mom, you know, we can always have dinner at the bowen's. they're just next door. ricky's always inviting us to dinner but you keep saying no. why?"

there was a knock on the door and avalon rushed to answer said door which distracted her mother from answering her question. she opened it and saw ej standing there with one hand holding his phone and the other by his side. he said a quick hello to his girlfriends mom and waited outside for avalon.


	3. three

avalon walked out the door and saw ej open the car door for her. she smiled and got into the car. ej sat in the driver's seat and avalon reached over to kiss his cheek. the teen boy started up the car, turned on the radio, and the two sang the whole way to ej's house.

when they got to ej's house, avalon went straight to the linen closet to grab the extra pillows and blankets. at the same time, ej was calling the local pizza place to order their usual: regular pepperoni pizzas.

ej and avalon got busy and started building their fort. by the time they finished building their fort, the pizzas arrived.

ej set up the movie, little shop of horrors, and avalon paid the pizza delivery guy with the money from their pizza jar. every time one of them gets paid, they put 5 dollars into the pizza jar for their next movie night.

ej looked at his girlfriend and hugged her. "you know you want to sing."  
"what, no," she drug on.  
the song started.  
"the alarm goes off at seven," she belts.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

after her movie night, everything went smoothly, and now it was the big night, well day. ej was going away to a theatre camp and avalon knew she was going to miss him terribly as they had been dating for a little over a year. avalon was at ej's house, hugging him so that he wouldn't leave.

the blonde girl was quietly crying and it seemed as though she was hanging onto ej for dear life. "will you send me pictures?" avalon asked sadly, "and videos."

he put his head on her head. he let go, but held her arms. "i'll miss you, avy,"  
"i'll miss you ej."

ej hugged her once more and kissed her. the soon-to-be-senior got into his dad's car and drove off. avalon drive home and did all the things you would do if you're bored. she read, listened to music, watched a movie, played piano, and sang a song. she ultimately decided to call up trevor and ask him if he will practice new moves.

"trevor can you practice?"

**"sure, i'll pick you up in 10."**

"k"

and that's how she let off some steam. she danced. she danced alone, she danced with trevor, it didn't matter she just danced.


	4. four

The summer ended, everyone didn't see much of ej when he came back from theatre camp. the first day of school was upon the kids at east high and avalon had already rolled out of bed and picked out her clothes. avalon threw on her backpack and walked downstairs to eat a granola bar.

"have a good first day of school avs." her mom said walking around the corner.

"i will, love you!" avalon yells walking out the door to ej's car. she got into his car and the drive was mostly silent. avalon wrung her hands in her lap nervously, looking out the window waiting for the right time to get his attention. her blonde hair, which was in a nicely tucked ponytail, whipped back-and-forth with the window rolled down and avalon knew it was time to break the silence.

"ej, what happened over the last part of summer? Specifically theater camp?" avalon questioned, turning her body to face ej. "nothing much, i met some new friends."

avalon crossed her arms and glared out the window, "that you were always hanging out with."

"oh come on." ej said getting a little annoyed at avalon's jealousy.

"i'm your girlfriend," avalon stated, the blonde teen was getting very heated.

"and she's my new one!" ej shouted, gripping the steering wheel, pulling into a parking space at school.

avalon wasted no time getting out of the car and she slammed the door. the girl shoved other teens out of the way muttering 'sorry'. avalon only looked up to push open the doors to the school.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

the heated blonde started to cry her way to her locker but her tears dissolved when she saw ricky and nini getting into a heated fight in front of lockers.

"what's going on here?" she whispered to kourtney.

"my girl nini is breaking up with ricky." she replied.

"wait didn't they already break up this summer?" avalon questioned.

"me too girl." kourtney said.

of course avalon knew they were already broken up and they weren't 'on a break', but she agreed with ricky on the subject. she understood that saying the 'l' word was a big deal for him and that it was going to take time and nini shouldn't have sprung it upon him like that.

"i don't believe this. you're blowing me off for some theater punk you met four weeks ago? at a lake?" ricky questioned, getting irritated with nini.

avalon thought about what he said for a moment and noticed that it sounded familiar. 

"you kinda dumped me!" nini exclaimed the same way avalon did when she was talking about ej and other people.

the boy was getting sad and avalon could tell he wanted to get out of the situation and keep his girlfriend. "it was a break. it wasn't a break-up." ricky said obviously upset.

nini stared at him. "i'm sorry ricky, but it's a break-up now." she said to her now ex boyfriend.

"pop off girl!" kourtney yelled.

"i can't handle another breakup today," avalon cried softly and wiped her tears on her sleeve walking towards her locker.

"hey avs what- oh my gosh, what happened?" trevor asked putting an arm around her.

avalon tried to get the words out but she couldn't. she never thought she actually had to say that her and ej were no longer a couple. avalon got a few words out and trevor inferred from that that her and ej were broken up.

"im gonna kill him."


	5. five

avalon and trevor made it to her locker. the blonde put some of her books in there and ignored trevors questions about her and ej. she slammed her locker shut and walked with her friend all the way to the gym for the annual back to school kick off. the two dancers found a spot next to ricky and the blonde girl leaned her head on ricky, unknowingly comforting both of them.

"i'm pleased to announce that this year, seniors will be allowed to wear baseball hats on fridays."

no one was even remotely excited except one lone senior in the back

"...and now for a special introduction. this year, east high has a new drama teacher."

avalon lifted her head off of ricky's head and suddenly cared about what her principal was saying.

"why big red? why do things have to change?" ricky asked, staring at nini.

"some things never change, dude," the redhead answered.

avalon started feeling upset again. "can we change the subject, please?"

"i've been wearing the same socks for 3 days." big red listened to her and changed the subject and the 3 other teens subtly moved a small distance away. avalon watched as a woman with blonde hair walked up to the podium where mr. once stood.

"go wildcats!" the woman yelled as she used a t-shirt cannon to shoot a t-shirt out into the student body. "my name is ms. jenn, and when I heard that the school where high school musical was shot had never staged a production of high school musical: the musical, I was shocked as an actress, inspired as a director, and triggered as a millenial."

"so we're doing hsm as our musical? i was hoping for legally blonde," avalon said. she had been practicing the song 'so much better' from legally blonde all summer with her voice teacher.

"millennial," mouthed ricky, confused

"auditions are tomorrow after school. this show could change your lives, and i'm saying this as a background dancer from the original movie," ms. jenn said and avalon snapped her head to trevor.

"there's no way that's true."

avalon shook her head and continued listening to the new drama teacher.

"third from the left, back row, red headband, and those are my real teeth."

avalon continued shaking her head.

"oh! and meet your student choreographer, carlos. You know him as captain of the colorguard..."

avalon started tuning ms. jenn out. it's not that she didn't care, it's that it was only like ej had broken up with her and she watched two of her close friends also end their relationship for the second time.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

the bell rung, signaling the end of the kickoff and avalon went to her first period as normal.

"i love theatre and i love high school musical but our drama teacher last year told us that the show would be legally blonde so i'm just very confused right now."

avalon has just walked out the door of her 4th period class and she was pulled to the side by her second best friend carlos. "uh carlos i have to get to class."  
"it'll just take a second." he said and took her by the arm, waving good-bye to trevor.  
carlos took the girl to ms. jenn's office for a proper introduction.

"knock-knock, ms. jenn. just wanted to report that the high school musical hashtag i started is already trending." he said walking in behind the stem teacher mr mazzara.

"well of course it is." she said.

"oh and this is my best friend avalon. she is a phenomenal dancer and actress. i brought her here to introduce her to you and tell you that she should join the team to help with the musical." carlos described enthusiastically. 

"i guess she could help with dance and both of you could do director things with me." ms. jenn said, excited that she had a new student that would be apart of the show. 

everyone left the room except ms jenn. avalon was half way down the hallway when she told carlos she'd be right back. the girl turned around and quickly walked back to ms. jenn's office. she popped back into the room. 

"ms. jenn?" avalon made her presence known.

"yes?"

"i was wondering, could i still audition for the musical as well as help out?" avalon questioned timidly.

"of course, we'll just do your audition last then." ms. jenn told her.

avalon let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "thank you so much." the girl quickly left the room and saw that carlos was waiting for her. the two east high students walked together down the hall and eventually split up, carlos to his class and avalon to lunch.


	6. six

avalon separated from the boy and walked over to ricky's table. she sat down and asked what they were talking about.

"nothing." they said in unison.

avalon heard a bunch of athletes say 'ej' and tried to ignore the feeling of sadness that she got.

"guys, are you seeing this?" big red asked.

"i'm seein' it, i'm hearin' it, i'm hatin' it," ricky answered with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"what do you mean?" avalon asked and turned around.  
the blonde instantly went from sad to angry in milliseconds.

"what. the. fuck?"  
avalon saw ej hugging nini the same way he used to hug her. It angered her so much so that avalon went over to them and told him off.

"really ej? nini? she's the girl you left me for?" she yelled.

"nini likes me and she was amazing over the summer."

"i know nini's amazing, but i still like you and you don't have feelings for me anymore. and now saying it loud, it hurts even more but i'm not just some girl you can push around. I'm sorry."

by the time she was finished, she was crying and avalon stormed out of the cafeteria. the girl just waited for the day to be over.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

the bell rang for the last time and avalon realized she had to ask someone else for a ride home. she didn't want to ask trevor because she didn't want to talk about that happened earlier. so, she asked carlos for a ride home. she texted him and he told her to meet him out front.

"hey." she said sadly.

"hey." the boy answered. Carlos had an idea of what happened since he had heard about it from a few people in his math class.

"i'm not going to talk at all ok?"

carlos dropped avalon off at her house and she thanked him quietly. the girl walked into her house and started reading a new book until her mom came home.

"avalon, i'm home!" her mom shouted.

avalon quickly put a bookmark in her book and jogged downstairs.

"hi mom."

stacy hall started making dinner and avalon brought her guitar down from her room.

"did you write a new song baby girl?" stacy asked her daughter, adding spices to the taco meat.

"i've been working on something new," she replied, getting ready to play. avalon strummed the first chord.

"momma said there'd be boys like you. breaking my heart in two, doing what you do best. taking me for a ride, telling me pretty little lies. but with you, i can't resist"

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

about a half an hour after dinner, trevor came over to pick avalon up for their first dance practice of the season. stacy let the boy in and avalon went upstairs to change into her dance clothes. she came back down with her dance bag and left quickly with her friend.

the two friends get to the studio and open their envelope. each week, every team would get an envelope that would tell them the name of the song and type of dance that the team would be dancing to that week. avalon opened it and read that they would be dancing a cha-cha to the song "free, free, free" by pitbull.

"okay, I'm excited. this was what we practiced most over the summer." avalon said.

"yea, hopefully we won't get second place."

the dancers brainstormed for an hour and a half and got a lot choreographed. they talked about rehearsal schedules. avalon and trevor decided to meet every day at 6 pm because avalon is helping out with the musical and will find out her full roll tomorrow. the two cleaned up and got into trevor's car. the boy drove her home and she thanked him. avalon got out of the car and walked into her house, making a bee-line for her bedroom. avalon changed into pajamas and went to bed.


	7. seven

the next morning she woke up happier and less annoyed. the girl walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror.

"what happened yesterday won't affect the rest of my junior year," she said to herself.

yes, she was upset, but she didn't want it to get in the way. avalon knew all of her new found confidence would crumble once she saw him. the girl got ready for school and ran downstairs.

avalon got a ride to school from her mom and told her she will find a ride home. the girl waited all day for auditions to start. the final bell rang and avalon ran to the auditorium. she saw carlos and he power-walked over to her.

"help me get everything ready."

avalon shook her head ok. carlos gave her a stack of audition numbers and the girl started passing them out.

"people, make sure your audition number is clearly visible on your clothes," carlos stated, power-walking through everyone.

"this isn't a game," avalon finished.

avalon started passing out extra numbers for people to put on for auditions. the girl walked around and saw nini and ej and turned around to walk the other way. she saw a girl she assumed to be a freshman try to braid her hair in a french braid but ultimately failing to do so. avalon walked over and introduced herself to the girl.

"hi, i'm avalon. i'm a junior."

the girl stopped trying and turned around in her seat to talk to the older student.

"hello. I'm angelina. i'm a freshman."

avalon smiled to herself since she guessed right.

"nice to meet you. i saw you were having trouble with your hair and i wanted to ask if i could help."

angelina had a look of surprise on her face.

"yes, please! can you do a french braid?"

avalon only nodded before she went straight to work on the younger girl's hair. it took around 5 minutes for avalon to complete the braid and it was time for auditions to start. angelina thanked avalon and the two girls went their separate ways.

carlos and trevor walked up to avalon. carlos told both of them to do the warm up dance and they obliged. the two followed carlos out to the stage and they got into position at the front. ms. jenn and carlos stood in front of the group. carlos motioned to someone to start the music and everyone started to dance. avalon didn't think of anything but the steps as she danced. the song ended and ms. jenn applauded.

"everyone, pair up. not with a friend."

avalon found angelina in the crowd and quickly made her way over to her and asked if she wanted to be partners. the younger girl agreed.

"theatre is a community," ms. jenn continued.

the girls talked a bit more and found things in common. ms. jenn asked a group of students to line up to read for a character. she went down the line asking a boy to read for ryan, taylor, etc. avalon stood next to ashlyn, who was asked to read for ms. darbus. avalon was next.

"you're giving me v-hudge vibes, but you're my little helper, so let's have you read for kelsi."

"ok, thank you! and just let me know what you need me to do for you," avalon said, smiling at ms. jenn.

carlos handed her a script and she silently thanked him. she watched as gina was given the gabriella script and was surprised when nini actually stood up for herself and asked for the gabriella script. then seb asked for sharpay, which avalon quietly clapped for. finally trevor was given the troy script, which made avalon cheer and ej glare at both of them.


	8. eight

"let's have the kelsi's audition first," ms. jenn said into the mic. all the kelsi's stood to the side and everyone else sat down, ready to watch the auditions. avalon was third out of five people. she watched the girls in front of her and then it was her turn. avalon walked toward the center and asked ms. jenn a question.

"can i sing my own song?"

"sure," she answered.

avalon walked towards the piano, sat down, and started to play.

"it's like the t-shirt that i'm never gonna wear again but i can't throw away. and i can't stand the thought of not talking to you one day, forgetting our old way. we had to say goodbye. i know i'm being selfish and i've got no right. but i can't help thinking about you tonight. and i don't wanna say it cause i know it's bad, but i don't want somebody have."

she played an ending chord and everyone clapped. she looked at ej and he wasn't clapping, but he looked confused.

"that was great avalon. now let's read," ms. jenn complimented.

avalon finished and sat down next to trevor. next ms. jenn called the troys up and there were many of them. trevor was first. he also asked if he could sing a different song. ms. jenn let him and he sang. once the song was over, avalon cheered loudly for him. the rest of the troys went and avalon didn't pay close attention to them, that was until ej was called up.

avalon tried not to listen to him but she couldn't help herself. she just sang a song to him and she felt a bit embarrassed. the girl put her head down and just listened,then she felt annoyed when she heard him speak his monologue. she ignored the rest of the troys, taylors, chads, and ryans.

avalon was getting bored and just wanted to leave. then, to avalon's delight, ms. jenn called the gabriellas. gina was first, she was good, but avalon didn't get a gabriella vibe from her. next was nini and avalon felt good about her audition.

"ok nini, whenever you're ready," ms. jenn said.

suddenly, avalon heard heavy footsteps running into the auditorium and she immediately turned around and saw ricky with a guitar case and big red behind him.

"am i too late? am i too late?" he, ricky, yelled running onto the stage.

ms. jenn had a look of surprise and confusion on her face.

"were all set on troys. were low on chads. You can read after the gabriellas," she said nicely.

"i only studied the troy scenes in the movie," ricky said worriedly.

"troy would have arrived on time," carlos said.

"carlos, honey, you and I both know troy was late," avalon spoke up defending ricky.

"ok nini, let's try this again," ms jenn said.

"you got this, babe!" ej yelled and ms jenn spilled her coffee on the controls which caused the lights to go out in the auditorium. avalon subtly glared at him.

"nobody panic! nini, let's wait for the lights to come back on," ms jenn said, to nini, "i don't want this to throw you."

nini mustered up all her courage and said a single phrase that was both cheesy and cool, "i'm not thrown." she started to sing and ricky pulled out his phone and turned on his flashlight to light up nini's face. avalon noticed ej getting jealous and he got up and did the same thing.

"i only needed 32 bars, but i appreciate your commitment," ms jenn told nini. "you, late boy. Let's do the Chad sides." she directed ricky.

"Hey, there. I'm Ricky Bowen. I'm a junior. And here goes." ricky started.

ricky started his monologue like normal and it lacked lots of emotion. then avalon noticed he drifted away from the script and made his monologue very nini centric. now he had lots of emotion. he finished and nobody said a thing.

"ok kiddo, time to sing." ricky started singing a familiar song that obviously wasn't from high school musical. avalon realized he was singing 'i think i kinda you know', a song that was written for him by nini. the girl felt second hand embarrassment from his audition, but couldn't deny that he had an amazing voice.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

everyone applauded and quickly left the auditorium to give carlos and ms jenn some space. avalon looked around and sat on the steps with trevor, holding his hand. she wanted him to get troy, but after hearing ricky, she knew that her best friend probably wouldn't get the lead.

a group of students who auditioned ran around the corner and the pair decided to follow them. they ran intothe hallway next to the auditorium where avalon saw ricky and nini arguing and big red looking awkward on the side.

avalon saw carlos out of the corner of her eye and finally realized what was happening. "clear! carlos is posting the cast list!" she yelled.

many people shoved avalon to the side to check the cast list. a few seconds later that avalon shoved ej out of the way and pulled trevor next to her and they looked at the cast list.

the girl found her name across from kelsi and trevor's across from ryan. they looked at each other and did a little portion of their dance.

she looked at the top and saw that ricky was playing troy and nini was playing gabriella. they moved out of the way just in time for ej to act like a cry baby. "chad? she thinks i'm a chad?"

"you're obviously not a troy asshole," avalon sneered and crossed her arms.

she walked away but saw ricky realize he was the newest troy bolton to walk the halls of east high.


	9. nine

the next school day ended and avalon and trevor walked through the halls to get to the read through.

"are you ready?" trevor asked his best friend, walking around the corner.

"definitely, i mean, i'm not only an actress in this show, i'm also a featured dancer on the side and ms jenn's helper." avalon said, pushing open the doors to the read through.

avalon saw many desks sorted into a circle and a name card on each one. she walked past nini and kourtney and set her stuff down at the back of the room. she found her name card that said kelsi on the right side of carlos and the left side of trevor.

avalon looked up from her phone when she heard ms jenn's voice. "could everyone take their assigned seats?" the woman asked.

everyone sat down and avalon put her phone away into her pocket. she watched ms jenn asked big red to read the stage directions for the show. it seemed as though he didn't have a choice and sat down in what was supposed to be natalie bagley's seat.

"i realize that you all walked in here as strangers." me jenn said once she got everyone's attention.

"actually, ej's my cousin!" ashlyn exclaimed.

"and ej and avalon are exes," stef whispered loudly enough for ej to glare at her behind him.

"but after today, you're a family. one tribe, committed to lifting this classic film to new heights," ms jenn stopped since she saw carlos taking selfies with his place card, "please take your neighbors' hands." she continued.

avalon held trevor and carlos' hands. "feel each other's energy. let the silence speak volumes. in a world full of no, this is a space full of yes."

"nice." trevor whispered. avalon looked at him.

"did you just come up with that?" carlos whispered to ms jenn.

"i did." she replied.

"we're all in this together, once we know that we are, we're all stars, and we see that. we're all in this together, and it shows, when we stand, hand-in-hand, make our dreams come true," ms jenn sang an acoustic version of 'we're all in this together'. immediately after she finished, ashlyn started clapping. "thanks."

big red started to read the stage directions and avalon wanted to jump off of the roof. he kept reading with no punctuation and it was driving avalon crazy. the blonde made a mental note to teach the red head how to read stage directions and do other theatre things .

"don't run it all together. read the punctuation." ms jenn said annoyed.

the red head started reading again and this time he literally read the punctuation. avalon never wanted to impale herself with the desk more than at that moment.

"and that's act one. let's take a break." ms jenn said.

avalon quickly stood up and made a beeline towards her backpack to grab her water bottle. she was so tired and just wanted to go home but couldn't since she had practice afterwards. avalon walked over to big red and explained what ms jenn meant by read the stage directions and she taught him how to read the correct way.

"thanks avalon." big red said. she smiled as a reply.

"let's start act 2!" ms jenn said enthusiastically.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

avalon and trevor made their way to practice. avalon was really nervous because their competition was tomorrow night and they were getting costume fittings today. the only aspect of the costume the dancers get to pick are the colors. for this dance, avalon and trevor chose purple.

the dancers have been practicing all week and they are putting the finishing touches on since it's a dress rehearsal. tomorrow they get to preform and the two dancers were nervous but excited.

time goes by and it's time to leave. avalon and trevor get into the latters car and drive home. avalon walks into her house and goes straight to her bedroom to do her homework and pick out her clothes for the next day.


	10. ten

avalon and trevor drove to the dance studio where the competition was being held. as soon as they arrived, they were both sent to hair and make up. avalon separated from her best friend and opened the door to hair and make up room 1 and trevor went to room 4. avalon met the woman, whose name she learned was erin, who was going to do her hair and make up for the rest of the season. they made small talk and got to know each other while erin curled the younger girl's hair. a little while later, erin started on avalon's make up. the dancer's make up consisted of purple eyeshadow, minimal blush, lip gloss, and mascara. avalon sat and talked to erin about their summer.

avalon slipped into her costume after her makeup was finished. she walked into the green room and found trevor waiting for her. she hugged him, careful not to wrinkle her outfit. the girl's phone dinged and she saw she had gotten a few good-luck texts, even one from nini. she saw she got one from carlos.

-i'm here and i can't wait to see you. good luck

she sent him one back  
-thank you!

and so the competition began. avalon and trevor were the 3rd pair to dance. they walked onto the dance floor and they stood in their starting positions. the music started and trevor jumped over her to start the dance. they danced and avalon felt free. she felt like nothing could stop her.

she felt like nothing could stop her

the dance ended and avalon and trevor walked to the judges and got their scores out of 30  
the dance ended and avalon and trevor walked to the judges and got their scores out of 30. the first judge gave them a 7, the second a 6, and finally the third a 7. the teens were content with their scores since it was the first competition of the year.

they walked to the side and sat down to watch everyone else dance. when everyone was finished, every team stood on the dance floor, waiting to see who's getting eliminated. after a few moments of antagonizing, the team from wheaton north high school ended up getting eliminated. the pair walked back to hair and makeup to take their makeup off. after that, they went to their dressing room and changed clothes. they took their costumes and left with their respective parents.

"you did amazing avy!" her mother, stacy, said on the way home.

"thanks mom, i'm really tired and i feel like i'm gonna fall asleep in the car." avalon said sleepily.

avalon eventually fell asleep in the car and her mother continued driving them home. when they got home, stacy gently woke up her daughter and the two of them walked inside the house and went off to their respective rooms.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

monday came around and ms. jenn asked carlos and avalon to come to rehearsal to help ms. jenn. avalon sat down and on ms. jenn's left and waited for ricky to arrive.

carlos shoved his phone in front of ms. jenn and asked, "do you follow zac on instagram?"

avalon's eyes shot up from her phone and looked over to carlos.  
"yes, obviously." she said dreamily.

ms. jenn was taken aback by zac efron's good looks and said, "no but clearly i should."

carlos whispered a yeah and avalon saw a figure run into the room. it was ricky.  
"hi, i'm sorry i'm late. i promise it won't happen again."

ms. jenn stood up and nini walked toward the four people.  
"thank you both for an early start today. let's begin."

avalon shuffled around some papers and nini nervously asked if it was just her and ricky. ms. jenn hummed as a yes in response.

"we're diving into page 97." her teacher said.

"you mean the last scene?" ricky clarified.

ms. jenn hummed in response again. avalon picked at her nails and just listened to the two students get comfortable.

"you wanna rehearse this? it's just one line?" nini asked.

"yeah, i've got one too." ricky said defensively.

"and then there's the kiss," ms. jenn said.

that made avalon intrigued.  
"a kiss? didn't they just hug?" the blonde asked.  
avalon stood up and watched nini stumble her words, agreeing with avalon.

"it was very much there in the original film" ms jenn said.

"no it wasn't," Avalon counted.

"i only remember a hug," ricky said, confused.

ms. jenn let out a breath, "the kiss ended up being cut. little racy for it's time."

avalon sat back down when ms. jenn continued practice.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

after school avalon caught up with ashlyn and they walked to practice together.  
"i know you don't want to talk about my cousin, but i just have to tell someone," ashlyn said nervously.

"what's going on?" avalon asked.

"ej asked me to help him steal nini's phone."

"what the hell? ej's a total dick."

"i know and i told him yes but i'm not going to. he even told me that she's not like the other girls he's dated." ashlyn exclaimed.

avalon couldn't believe what she had heard. "oh my god, if anything, i was the best girlfriend he ever had."

they then walked into the room and avalon split from her friend and met carlos in the middle.

"i'm kinda lost, if the play's over, why would we still be dancing?" ricky asked.

nini and avalon sighed in unison.  
"it's curtain call," carlos starts.  
"you're the last two people to come out," avalon continues.  
"we want to bring the audience to their feet," the boy finishes.

"teach them the dance," ricky said.

"carlos, avalon, can we wait for ms. jenn?" nini asked.

"miss jenn is tracking down a prop." avalon said.

"she asked me to create a crescendo, people, so let's stop swirling and start twirling." carlos said to the actors.

"but why are we practicing the bows when we haven't even practiced the play?" ricky asked, still very confused.

god could this boy be any more clueless, avalon thought.

"because you start with the hardest dance that takes the longest to learn." carlos said.

"ya, it's in the big book of broadway, page 374." avalon said, gina joining her on the last bit.  
avalon turned around and did a friendly hand thing with gina.

"okay, people. let's take it from three counts of eight, right before troy and gabriela's entrance for the bows." carlos said.

everyone, including avalon, got into their correct positions, waiting for the music to start. the music started and avalon started to dance with trevor, not as kelsi and ryan, but as featured dancers. the dance stopped abruptly and avalon wanted to claw her eyes out. she saw that ricky and nini were fighting about the dance. avalon didn't understand how he couldn't do a simple dance number. she watched as they kept arguing about "not being here". it annoyed the blonde to no end. avalon walked over to ashlyn and stood by her. carlos walked over to them and told them to go back to the dance.

all of the dancers walked back to their starting positions, but of course, ricky and nini weren't done arguing with each other.

"okay, that's a five! on a break, people! everybody out! get out!" carlos exclaimed.

he then shooed everyone out. on the way out the door, avalon saw ej look at nini like he was concerned and her annoyed mood shattered and turned into sadness. carlos ran back into the room and avalon peeked inside to see ms. jenn sit down hopelessly. carlos came and and told everyone to come back into the room.

"practice is over. i'll see you all tomorrow," ms. jenn said sadly.

avalon gathered her things and went to stand by trevor.  
"hey, can you drive me home?" avalon asked the boy.

"yeah, let's go."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

trevor picked up avalon for practice that night and they made their way, singing along to whatever was on the radio. they made it to the studio and grabbed their envelope and their key to the room. the two dancers reached their private practice room. they sat down in the middle of the room. avalon gave trevor the envelope and he opened it.

"so, what type of dance are we doing?" avalon asked the boy.

"we are doing a charleston to 'living in new york city' by robin thicke."

avalon jumped up and squealed with joy. the charleston was one of her favorite dances to dance. the girl was super excited and started practicing random moves that she thought would work. she even started brainstorming costume ideas. they stayed at the studio for an hour and a half.

they got a knock on the door, avalon got up and opened the door. she saw an envelope on the ground, and picked it up, and brought it into the room.

"an envelope?" trevor asked.  
"should i open it?" avalon asked.  
trevor nodded his head and avalon went ahead and opened it. the letter said they were to do a second dance, a tango to 'lashes' by celene dion. avalon repeated what she read to trevor and they stayed an extra 30 minutes to start choreographing the second dance.


	11. eleven

it was around 7:30 pm when avalon got a call from ricky.

-"hey avalon!"  
-"hey ricky, what's up?"  
-"i'm trying to learn the dance for "we're all in this together, but i suck. can you come over and help me?"

"let us me ask my mom."

avalon covers the speaker with her hand and quickly walked across the hall to her mother's room. she knocked on the door.

"mom, can i go to ricky's house to   
help him with his dancing?"

"sure, call me when you're done."

"okay i will bye mom."

avalon went downstairs, took the keys, and drove to ricky's house which was right down the street. the blonde parked and knocked on his door. she heard footsteps and suddenly saw ricky bowen standing in front of her. he invited her in and they sat on the couch.

so what exactly do you need help with," she asked.

"everything," he answered.

avalon the got up and showed him how to do each part of the dance step by step. after each little part, they would practice it together with the music. they were doing a section with the music when ricky's dad walked downstairs.

"ricky, it's midnight. i thought you had a test tomorrow, and avalon, i'm gonna call your mom and tell her you are staying the night ok?" mr. bowin said.

"i do dad," ricky said.

"thank you mr. bowen," avalon said kindly.

"this is for a test?" mr. bowen asked, clearly confused.

"most important one of my life," ricky answered, still dancing.

the boy starts to sing when his father sighed   
and turned to walk back upstairs.

"hey dad, if you can't sleep, you can hang here, with us," ricky answered.   
avalon nodded.

mr. bowen debated whether or not to stay but ultimately decided to stay with ricky and avalon. the two teenagers continued dancing in front of ricky's dad. ricky and avalon started singing along. they practice for about an hour more before mr. bowen told them to go to bed. the two go up to ricky's room and get ready for bed.

"hey bowen, got any clothes I can wear?" avalon asked.

ricky looked around in his drawers and threw the girl an old t-shirt and sweatpants. she went to the bathroom to change and came back into ricky's room. ricky created a small bed of pillows and blankets on the ground.

"here, you can have the bed," he said to the blonde. they normally took turns with who slept on the bed and tonight it was hers. they got into their beds and almost instantly fell asleep.


	12. twelve

the next day they woke up early and avalon left to go back home to change. she then took off for school. during the day she got a text from ricky to meet her in the library, so that's where she went. avalon met ricky there and went to find carlos. She found the boy at the computers.

ricky and avalon hid behind a bookshelf and ricky started to throw something at carlos. he looked up and walked to them

"if you plan on assaulting me, i have to warn you, my mother plays bunked with the librarian and will press charges," carlos said.  
ricky and avalon looked at each other , then back at carlos.

"i wanna show you something, ok? just watch."  
ricky then did his dance.

"wow, you've been practicing. I thought you quit," carlos said, seemingly impressed.  
"not doing that anymore."

ricky ended his dance and avalon jumped in before carlos could say anything.

"ricky, you're doing spirit fingers. We want jazz hands."

carlos asked him to try it again and they both watched all the hard work ricky did. No one saw nini from behind, watching them.

"i have to go. ashlyn needs me," avalon said, running out the door and into the auditorium.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

avalon opened the auditorium doors and set her bag down on the floor. she saw ashlyn at the piano and walked over to her.

"what's up?" she asked.

"can you play for me? i wrote a song and i wanted to hear you play." ashlyn said.

"of course."

avalon started to play ashlyn's song and the blonde thought it was amazing. the first thought that ran through her mind was that she wanted to write a song with her.

"oh hi." ashlyn said to someone.

avalon turned her head and saw nini had walked into the room.

"uh didn't know anyone was in here," nini said.

"um we can be gone in seven seconds, six if i don't zip my bag." ashlyn said hurriedly.

"no, no, no. don't go. what was that?" the brunette asked.

"what was what?" avalon asked confused.

"the song you were playing." nini said to avalon.

"oh that. well that was an amazing song ashlyn wrote." avalon told the girl.

"ms. jenn asked me to compose a song for my character. it's probably way too much." ashlyn said, feeling self conscious.

"i'm playing miss darbus, the teach-" nini cut ashlyn off.

"i know who you're playing, ashlyn. i sat across from you at the read-through. besides, you're ej's cousin." nini said.

"we don't have to talk about ej." ashlyn said.

"i don't wanna talk about ej." avalon said harshly.

"do you?" ashlyn asked nini.

"no, i mean, i do, but just not right now." nini said awkwardly.

nini's phone dinged. "jeez. this has to stop.

"doesn't matter who texted. it's no one's business." ashlyn said. avalon looked at her, feeling a little confused.

"no. one of my moms has been sending me these fortune cookie messages every day to keep me 'balanced'. 'true test of character is what you do when no one's looking.'" nini said.

"why would someone send that?" ashlyn asked nervously.

"she seriously needs to stop. it's like the 15th one today." nini said.

"uh wow," avalon said awkwardly. it was like nini and ashlyn forgot she was even there.

"why don't you play me some more of your song?" nini asked.

[ashlyn]  
Seems like a part of me will always have to lose  
Every single time I have to choose  
Swore that it felt right, but was I wrong?  
Is this where I'm supposed to be at all?  
I don't have the answers, not today  
It's like nothing makes the questions go away  
What I'd give to see if the grass was greener

[avalon]  
On the other side of all I've had and lost  
Would it be enough or would I still be wondering?

[ashlyn]  
If I could go back and change the past  
Be a little braver than I had  
And bet against the odds  
Would I still be lost?  
Even if I woke up in my dreams  
Would there still be something I'm missing?  
If I had everything, would it mean anything to me?  
Ooh

[nini]  
Feels like I might have broke the best thing that I had  
I said too much to ever take it back  
Scared I'll never find something as good  
And would I even know it if I could?

[ashlyn, nini, avalon]  
On the other side of all I've had and lost  
Would it be enough or would I still be wondering?  
(Or would I still be wondering, oh)

[ashlyn, avalon, nini]  
If I could go back and change the past  
Be a little braver than I had  
And bet against the odds  
Would I still be lost?  
Even if I woke up in my dreams  
Would there still be something I'm missing?  
If I had everything, would it mean anything?

[nini, avalon]  
Maybe I should turn around and take the other road  
Or maybe I'm just lookin' for what I already know  
I'm just wondering

[ashlyn, nini, avalon]  
If I could go back and change the past  
Be a little braver than I had  
And bet against the odds  
Would I still be lost?  
Even if I woke up in my dreams  
Would there still be something I'm missing  
If I had everything, would it mean anything to me?

[ashlyn]  
Would it be enough?  
Or would I still be wondering?

no one saw ricky walk in. "miss jenn wants to see everyone in the bomb shelter." he said. avalon could tell he was having a little moment with nini and couldn't help but feel something inside her. it felt kinda wrong, but kinda right.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

avalon walked into the bomb shelter with nini, ashlyn, and ricky. luckily they didn't miss anything.

"hey, i missed you. where have you been?" ej asked nini as ashlyn, nini, and avalon once they made their appearance in the room.

"what?"

"before you came here." he said

"i was hanging with your cousin, um and your ex." the brunette said awkwardly.

"really? why? don't be weird." ej said. "why would you want to hang with avalon anyway? she's weird and not as talented as you."

"i'm just trying to get in good with the family  
and shut up ej. avalon is talented, you wouldn't have been with her if she wasn't." nini said annoyed. ej shut up completely after that.

"here it is, people." miss jenn said, holding an old phone.

"is that a garage-door opener?" seb asked, confused.

"no, seb." avalon said gently, setting her hand on his shoulder.

"this is Gabriella's phone." miss jenn continued. everyone looked confused.

"from the film." avalon said obviously. they all 'oooo'ed.

"i plan on creating a time-capsule display in our lobby." miss jenn explained, "if they can have 40 sports-ball trophies, we deserve a little movie museum."

"okay, people, enough dazzle. fetch your scripts, please." miss jenn called.

avalon went with ricky to get her script.

"is that really her phone?" nini asked excitedly.

"hold it to your ear like a sea shell. you'll hear echoes of V-Hudge crushing the B flat on when there was me and you. or you can let me disinfect it first." miss jenn said as nini held the phone to her ear.

"places for top of the ski lodge!" miss jenn yelled.


	13. thirteen

avalon and trevor had their practice for their dances and so far they were doing pretty well. the charleston was going much better than the tango was however. trevor brought in their props for their charleston dance and they used those. they danced in unison.

for the tango, trevor couldnt stop laughing and that made avalon start to laugh. the tango is a serious dance so there is no room to mess up or do something funny.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

a few days later, most of the cast was sitting in the bomb shelter for rehearsal. avalon watched part of the dance from the side lines for 'stick to the status quo' and she thought it was really good. gina then stood on the table and did a dance solo and avalon wanted to stand up and applaud her. the girl looked to the door and saw nini walk in. the dance ended and everyone applauded the dancers.

ms jenn walked over to nini worriedly. "everybody hold! nini, where were you? we've been here for an hour."

"im so sorry." the brunette said nervously. "i lost my phone and spent last night living as a hunter-gatherer, which, by the way, did you know there are things that are only on tv at a certain time? anyway, I picked it up in the lost and found- wait, did you say an hour?"

"gina sent you and me a text asking if we could come in early so she could talk through a new idea." miss jenn explained to nini. "you didn't get it?"

"no, my phone was missing."

"you've gotta keep better track of your stuff. a real triple-threat means singing, acting, and being organized." miss jenn said.

"got it." nini said.

"if you had been here, you'd know gina pitched a whole new dance break for gabriella and taylor in the middle of 'status quo', and she had carlos, avalon, and trevor work it out with her, and it is dazzling." miss jenn said excitedly. the woman walked away and left nini and gina to talk on their own.

"you, carlos, avy, and trevor?" nini questioned.

"gina, avalon, why don't you hydrate and show nini the new choreo?" miss jenn yelled.

"ok ms j!" avalon yelled back.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"this is a basic triple pirouette." avalon says and then demonstrates. "hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult."

"this is a two count of krump." gina demonstrates.

"then some argentinian tango. piece of cake if you've spent a few months overseas." avalon jokes.

"here's where you kick your face." gina says then shows nini the move.

"can I kick yours?" nini says sarcastically.

"be nice you two." avalon says.

"i ove your humor." gina gets up.

"part two. ready?" avalon asks.

"there's not a word for this last move per se, but I call it the death whack. give a gander." gina does the move and nini is left speechless. "so that, but you start on the left foot. ready?"

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

avalon and trevor were at the studio the next night, stretching when avalon's phone went off. she reached over into her bag and grabbed it.

_hello?_

**_hey avy i've got to tell you something._ **

_what ash?_

**_ej just sang me a whole ass song he wrote for nini about how he was sorry he stole her phone._ **

_he stole her phone? wait nevermind that, he wrote her a song???_

**_yeah, and it sucked, you should write a song and sing it to spite him._ **

_i don't know ashlyn_

**_come on, do it_ **

_fine_

avalon put her phone down and thought for a moment. she missed ej, but she was also pissed that he broke things off with her. she thought about what song she was going to sing. avalon had a song partly written called 'too young' and she decided to finish up that song and preform it.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

the next day, the cast was rehearsing the music for 'stick to the status quo' and avalon sat at the piano, playing it and everyone was singing together. they were all having a blast singing and having fun during rehearsal. miss jenn walked in with mr. mazzara begins her. avalon couldn't see her, but the rest of the cast could see how proud she was based on her facial expression.

they finished singing and everyone was cheering. "i have no notes." carlos said and everyone began laughing and yelling with delight.


	14. fourteen

over the weekend, avalon and trevor had their dance competition. their dances went extremely well and they were very proud. their charleston was definitely better than the tango but both dances ended up well.

their charleston ended up getting scores of 9,8,9 for a total of 26 out of 30. they were so happy and excited and avalon felt like nothing could bring her down from the high that she gets while dancing.

their tango got the same scores and they were super proud.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

after the performances, avalon and trevor said goodbye to each other and wakes out to meet their respective parents and shared friends.

carlos ran up to the girl and pulled her into a bear hug. "avy you were amazing!"

"thank you so much carlos!" the girl said, giving him a wide smile.

avalon felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see ricky holding a single, light pink, carnation.

"avalon, you did great out there!" ricky congratulated her on her dancing. he pulled her in for a hug and handed her the flower. "here, i got you this."

avalon took the flower from her friend and smiled. "thank you ricky, it's lovely."

suddenly avalon's mother came up to the pair and told avalon that they had to leave.

"bye ricky, i'll see you on monday." avalon said and waved goodbye to him as she walked away.

the two blondes got into the car and avalon turned on the radio and sang songs with her mother the whole way home.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

avalon sat in her room, a keyboard on her lap, thinking about new lyrics for a song she was currently writing. the song was very personal to her and one of her favorites that she had written. she played a few notes on the keyboard and sang a few lyrics she had written down on a piece of paper.

"so glide away on soapy heels  
and promise not to promise anymore  
and if you come around again  
then i will take, then i will take  
the chain from off the door."

stacy hall knocked on her daughters door and silently walked in the room, listening to the sound of avalon's voice. after her daughter finished, stacy clapped and took a seat on the edge of the girls bed.

"that was beautiful sweetheart, what's it about?" her mother asked.

avalon sat back and thought about her interpretation of the song. she thought about ej, she thought about everything. her lip twitched as she thought about how he left her.

"the beginning is basically a reference to peter pan and how he tries to put his shadow back on with soap, as well as peter pan being a childish person who convinced the darlings to leave their troubles behind.

the next few part center around ej i guess. i'm saying that he better not make anymore promises he can't keep. the chains part means that if ej comes back to me i might just fall apart and go back to him."

stacy goes to sit next to her daughter. she puts her arm around the younger blonde and pulled her close.

"well it's beautiful baby, keep singing." stacy told her daughter and wiped a tear that had fallen from her daughters cheek.


	15. fifteen

the next day at school, avalon was standing with ashlyn by the door, waiting for rehearsal to start. avalon was reading a new book ricky had bought for her before school had started. ashlyn hugged the girl and pointed to nini yelling at ej. Avalon shut her book and put it in her backpack. the girl leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, happy that ej was getting yelled at. nini walked over to the group of theatre kids to get away from ej.  
  
"hey, is the door locked or something? why can't we get in?" the brunette asked the group.

"oh. natalie bagley's missing her emotional support hamster. he got loose." ashlyn told her quickly.

"yeah, carlos and gina are helping her find her, him, it. whatever, its quite dumb though, don't you think?" avalon continued.

ashlyn jumped when she heard a scream coming from the other side of the door.  
"i think they found it," ashlyn said.

suddenly natalie and carlos stepped out and natalie walked away.

"is he dead?" ashlyn asked.

"no. now she thinks he's in her gym locker." carlos said.

"why the screaming?" avalon asked the boy.

"that was me. she stepped on my toe. we're ready to begin, people." carlos said and the boy walked towards nini and ej.

avalon wondered why ricky wasn't there. normally she'd let it slide, but this time she figured she'd call the boy and find out why he's not there. she dialed his number and after three rings, he picked up.

- _hey ricky, is everything alright? where are you?_

- ** _hi, um, avy. i'm at home. my mom showed up here._**

_-wow, ok, is that good or bad?_

**_-i'm not sure, look, everything's confusing right now but i'll make it to rehearsal later. bye lonnie. don't miss me too much._ **

_-i could never. bye bowen._  
  
ricky hung up and avalon was left with a smile on her face, but what she didn't know was that ricky was smiling the whole time on the other line.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

avalon walked through the door and sat down in her seat. She saw carlos walk in and pulled him aside.

"hey, what are we blocking today?"

"we're blocking the troy and gabriella duet." carlos told the girl quickly, then walked away to do something else.

avalon sighed and took out her script and a pencil to get ready. ms. jenn soon announced that rehearsal had started. the girl was getting really bored watching nini and ej have absolutely no chemistry. i have more chemistry with ej than she does and she's his girlfriend, she thought to herself. she quickly shook that thought from her head and tried to focus.  
the blonde locked eyes with seb and mutually agreed to switch spots. avalon then took his spot at the piano and shot trevor a wink.

"take it from 'wow! now that's really nice,'" ms. jenn said to the teens.

ej repeated what she said, although it wasn't in the best form.

avalon picked at her nails and made funny faces to trevor to pass the time. ms. jenn pointed to avalon and the girl started playing the piano.

"it's hard to believe that i couldn't see that you were always there beside me," ej started singing by the piano.

"thought i was alone with no one to hold,   
but you were always there beside me." nini sang.

"this feelings like no other   
i want you to know   
i've never had someone that knows me like you do   
the way you do   
i've never had someone   
as good for me as you   
no one like you   
so lonely before   
i finally found   
what i've been looking for," they sang together.

avalon looked out to her peers and saw people scoff and laugh with their friends. the girl felt bad that her fellow theatre friends were talking bad about nini and ej. well, she didn't care about ej, but she could see why nini and ej weren't acting. nini was showing her anger and making avalon annoyed.

nini started doing this weird riff thing to basically challenge ej, making avalon physically cringe.  
the song ends and there's a moment of silence. ms. jenn stopped them and talked to them. avalon took her phone out of her pocket and swiped through some old pictures of her and ricky, wondering when he would get to practice.


	16. sixteen

"sorry i'm late. my mom, she caught an earlier flight. where are we?"

avalon looked up from her phone and saw that ricky had made it to practice. she caught his attention and waved, he waved back.

"scene seven." avalon told the boy.

"right." he said. "i don't have it. could i borrow..."

"you need your script, ricky. and a pencil. it's a blocking rehearsal." ms. jenn told him sternly.

ricky turned to nini, "could i borrow a pencil?"

"you can share mine." ashlyn said to him.

"no, he can't. when you come to rehearsal, people, you come prepared." ms. jenn said.

suddenly, natalie ran into the room, panting heavily holding a box.

ashlyn stood up and walked over to the girl. "was he in your gym locker?"

"no, just my cherry lip balm. but it had elliot's teeth marks in it." she sniffled.

"aw, i'm sure that wouldn't hurt him." ashlyn told her, putting a hand on her arm comfortingly.

"it's sparkly." natalie pointed out.

"then it'll be easier to find him." seb spoke up. everyone looked at him awkwardly. "if he smiled." the boy clarified.

"natalie, we feel your pain, but i was just explaining what a constructive rehearsal requires. focus. and honestly, another day like this one and i am showing up with my emotional support coyote." ms. jenn lectures.

avalon stared at the woman nervously. she was nervous of what ms. jenn would do next. avalon locked eyes with ricky and silently asked him if he was ok. he nodded and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"ms. jenn, i know the scene." ricky told her.

"would you wait in my office?" ms. jenn asked him. ricky nodded, packed up his backpack, and left the room.

"wait, are we done?" avalon asked.

"we are, kelsi. take a note. this is what a frustrated drama teacher looks like." ms. jenn said pointing to her face. "go. scoot. come back when you're ready to be punctual, park your distractions at the door, and take the work in here seriously."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

that night avalon has just finished eating dinner with her mom when she went up stairs to change into more comfortable clothes. just a regular pair of sweatpants and a cast t shirt from the past summer when her and trevor did mamma mia with a local theatre group, one nini and ej weren't apart of. a loud ding was heard throughout the room and avalon checked her phone to see a text from ricky.

texts between ricky and avalon

basketball dream 🏀

can i come over?

dancing queen ✨

let me ask my mom

the blonde girl quickly walked across the hall to her mothers room and knocked on the door. a simple "come in." was heard and avalon barged into her mothers room. she jumped on the woman's room and shoved her phone into her face.

"can ricky come over?" avalon asked hurriedly. she didn't like leaving people hanging.

"it's past seven and isn't his mom home? wouldn't he want to spend time with her?" stacy asked her daughter, turning the volume down on the tv.

avalon sighed, "he was really stressed today because of his mom." she explained. "i'm sure that's why he wants to come over, he needs to destress."

"text him back, of course he can come. he's always welcome here." stacy smiled.

avalon hugged her mom and ran out of the room, obviously making sure to close the door first. she hopped onto her own bed and opened the messages app.

dancing queen ✨

my mom said yes

basketball dream 🏀

i'll be over in 10

dancing queen ✨

see u then ricks

like the boy said, ten minutes later the doorbell rang and avalon ran downstairs and opened the door. in seconds she came face to face with ricky and welcomed him into her home. she shut the door after him and studied his features carefully. his eyes were teary and she noticed he kept dragging his feet. the girl suddenly wrapped him into a tight hug and he instantly fell into it. the hug felt like forever until avalon pulled away and smacked her forehead.

"i'm so sorry, i should've asked as soon as you got here, but is there anything you need? like food or anything?" the blonde teen asked her friend.

"no, i-i'm good." ricky stuttered.

avalon took the boys hand and brought him up to her room. she opened a drawer and took out a pair of sweatpants and a t shirt that ricky left for when he comes over. she brought the clothes over to the boy who was standing by the door.

while she was doing that ricky took a second to examine her room. he noticed that she moved her desk and created a small music corner that included her keyboard, guitars, and microphones. he brought his attention back to her and could let help but notice how pretty her eyes were.

avalon snapped her fingers and ricky came back to reality and took the clothes from her, silently thanking her. he walked out of the room, into the bathroom to change.

the girl grabbed her electric guitar from the stand and sat on her bed, playing a few small chords. ricky came back and sat on the bed next to her.

"do you wanna talk about it?" avalon asked.

"not yet." he replied. "what are you playing?"

"just a little something i've been working on. it's a duet. i've just finished it." avalon answered, opening up her songbook to the song 'like to be you'.

"can i sing it with you?" ricky asked.

"let's do it."

avalon started playing and was immediately entranced by ricky's voice singing her song.

"don't cry, or do whatever makes you feel comfortable  
i'm tired, too  
there's nothin' left to say, let's call a truce  
'cause i don't really wanna go to bed like this  
i'm so sorry  
we're still stuck in the middle  
i'm so sorry  
'cause in the moment i."

avalon then joined in for the chorus.

"i don't know what it's like to be you  
i don't know what it's like but i'm dying to  
if i could put myself in your shoes  
then i know what it's like to be you."

next was avalon's solo.

"can i kiss you or not?  
'cause i'm not really sure right now of what you want  
are you still mad at me? i'm hopin' not  
'cause maybe we could go to the movies  
i know that always cheers us up, hey." the girl sang, blushing.

ricky watched her. he loved what he was hearing. when she finished her solo he joined her for the next part.

"i'm so sorry  
though we're still stuck in the middle  
yeah, i'm so sorry  
'cause in the moment i  
i don't know what it's like to be you  
i don't know what it's like but i'm dying to  
if i could put myself in your shoes  
then i know what it's like to be you  
tell me what's inside of your head  
no matter what you say i won't love you less  
and I'd be lying if i said that i do  
i don't know what it's like to be you  
i don't know what it's like to be you."

avalon had a small guitar solo and ricky was shocked. he had never heard her play like that before. they looked at each other and finished the rest of the song.

"i get worried  
i might lose you a little  
every time we  
every time we argue and get caught up in the moment  
i don't know what it's like to be you  
i don't know what it's like but i'm dying to  
if I could put myself in your shoes  
then i know what it's like to be you  
so tell me what's inside of your head  
no matter what you say i won't love you less  
and i'd be lying if i said that i do  
i don't know what it's like to be you  
i don't know what it's like to be you  
i don't know what it's like."

they stared into each other's eyes lovingly. avalon set down her guitar on the bed, not breaking eye contact. ricky's eyes flickered down to her lips but avalon didn't notice. they both subconsciously started leaning in but stopped before their lips touched.

"can i kiss you?" ricky whispered.

avalon modded slightly and the two closed their eyes. ricky leaned in all the way and their lips connected. avalon was in utter bliss. she had never felt anything like this before. their lips moved in since at a normal pace, slowly getting faster.

avalon wrapped her arms around the boy's neck loosely. ricky cautiously placed his hand on her hips. the only thing that could be heard was the faint sound of her mothers tv playing la la land.

avalon slowly broke away from the kiss, breathless. she leaned her forehead on ricky's. they both breathed heavily, clearly out of breath.

"ricky." avalon breathed.

"hey." he said awkwardly.

the two teens were never the best in social situations. it was a given that they would be awkward.

avalon removed her hands from ricky's neck, and the boy removed his hands from her waist. "so, um, here are some pillows and the blankets are on that chair if you wanna stay in here. if not you can always go to the guest room." avalon said to ricky.

"thanks avalon." ricky said.

the boy kissed her forehead and took the pillows from her, setting them down on the ground. he went to grab the blankets from the chair and put them on the ground. ricky put the guitar away and turned off the light, getting into his makeshift bed. normally him and avalon would set up an air mattress but they were much too tired.

"night ricky." avalon yawned, laying down and pulling the blanket up.

"sweet dreams, avy."


End file.
